Title: Just a Title

Characters: Nam Joohyuk, OC

Stepping into the house, Minjoo slipped off her shoes quickly to dash up the stairs towards her bedroom. 

“I’m home!”

She didn’t stick around long enough for anyone to welcome her back from school.  Her older brother, Joohyuk sat on the couch in the living room. Though, he heard Minjoo’s voice, he didn’t get a chance to see her. 

Before turning his attention back on the show currently on the TV, he could hear the sound of the blow dryer coming from upstairs. 

Running the blow dryer back and forth over the wet pages of her texts and workbooks, Minjoo stood over her desk and hoped they would be saved without further damage. This was the first time the girls at school had done something like this but not the first time causing her trouble. 

With a sigh, Minjoo brushed away the thoughts. Saving her stuff was priority. 

***

“Hey, isn’t that your younger sister?” 

Joohyuk looked out the window to see the opposite wing of the high school – the wing that held the freshmen. Through the windows of the other side, he confirmed his friend’s observation. 

“She looks a little frantic, doesn’t she?” His friend joked.

And he was right once more. Joohyuk kept his eyes on Minjoo while she ran down the hallway, stopping at each classroom to peek her head inside – classrooms that are now empty since it was the end of the school day. 

Chuckles slip from Joohyuk’s lips, “what’s up with her?” He leaned forward and squinted his eyes to have a clearer look. No matter how much he thought about it, her behavior was simply strange. “I’m going on ahead.” Joohyuk walks away first, leaving his friends behind. Turning the corner, he heads to the opposite wing. The hallway was so empty that all he could hear was his own footsteps and soon, his ears were met with the sound of light tapping. Looking up, he finds Minjoo still in the midst of jogging.

“Is this what you’re doing to exercise?” He chuckles before continuing, “are you looking for something?”

Flinching at the sudden sound of her brother’s voice, Minjoo stops and looks behind her. “Oh, it’s you.” Fidgeting in her spot, she tries to think of an excuse, “just looking for a friend.”

“Why don’t you just call your friend?”

“…She didn’t pick up.”

How convenient. Flicking his hand, he calls her over. “Let’s go home. It shouldn’t be that important, right?”

Without hearing her explanation, he walks away first and Minjoo is forced to follow if she didn’t want him digging any deeper. Walking side by side, the two continued out of the school and down the street. Unknowingly, Minjoo didn’t notice her brother stealing glances of her. 

Though he didn’t get to ask her what was on her mind before they reached home, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something definitely up.

“Minjoo, you’ll let me know if you’re having trouble, right?”

Joohyuk’s sudden words draw silence from her for a moment, “…yeah.”

***

The following days were the same.

Minjoo kept up with her strange behavior. Coming home late from school and rushing to her bedroom. She didn’t speak much during dinner. Started becoming really secretive about things. 

Joohyuk brushed it off as puberty. He’s been through it once. He understands.

 But then, the talk around school started.

“Joohyuk